Climate-Related Disclosures, TNFD, IFRS1 and IFRS2, CSRD, NGFS, RCPs, SSPs, GRI, SASB, UNSDG’s, UNGC. The list goes on. If these acronyms remind you of alphabet soup, you’re not alone.
Understanding the landscape of the many reporting frameworks, standards and initiatives (both mandatory and voluntary) that are currently in circulation is complex enough, without having to work out how to craft a meaningful message communicating how you are approaching your transition to a sustainable future. Adding to the challenge, you must also navigate your way to avoid overcommitting on sustainability targets, risking greenwashing accusations and legal challenges, AND then landing it effectively in the public domain without looking like a compliance-led tick box exercise.
At our recent joint Tadpole|ASB Sustainability Summit, we covered all things #sustainability including #storytelling but rather than focusing on high level concepts and theories we tried to bring the practical realities and fact-based case studies from our own experiences and those of our expert speakers, to ensure the session was grounded in reality.
Storytelling
Guy Whateley from design and brand agency, Saturday Creative, spoke about the challenges businesses face in engaging audiences emotionally as well as rationally. Sustainability can be a dry and complex subject to communicate, he said, where the emotive power of storytelling often gets overshadowed by data and process.
During the summit, we were delighted to be joined by two experts who shared their experiences and lessons (learnt the hard way), about how to really get your message across. The key was to develop a strong creative idea as the emotional springboard for the messaging.
Guy Whatley, Director, Saturday Creative
“Now that you’ve said everything you wanted to say, what was it you wanted to tell me?”
Guy Whateley
Guy shared his advice for storytelling success during an engaging and thought-provoking presentation.
Seven steps to sustainability storytelling:
1. Start with why we are we doing this?
2. Know your audience and their appetite for the subject.
3. Know what you want to say to them.
4. Define how you want them to respond with their reason and emotion.
5. Identify how you should best convey the message to achieve the response.
6. Build your story around an idea.
7. Let the idea shine brightly and don’t let process and data dull it.
Guy and the team at Saturday Creative challenge clients to express who they are and change how people feel about them, whilst striving to create identity, authenticity and meaning.
Tadpole has been lucky to see Saturday’s expertise up close, having worked with the business on a number of mutual clients to ensure that messages land in an effective and engaging way.
Impact is Key
Dr Peter Longdill, GM Sustainability & Environment at Sanford, was another fantastic speaker addressing sustainability reporting at the summit. Sanford has been providing sustainability reporting for over 20 years and Peter was very clear about the positive impacts.
Dr Peter Longdill, GM Sustainability & Environment, Sanford
Sustainability reporting can consume you and parts of your organisation if you let it. Peter shared his thoughts about the need for reporting which promotes transparency and honest communication, and reinforced not underestimating the significance integrity plays in this process. Peter also highlighted the need to choose partners carefully, in the crowded reporting standards landscape which is growing at pace. This will allow you to “right size” your efforts.
Most importantly, a key message from Peter was that reporting is a tool. Impact is the desired outcome.
Reporting Climate Disclosures: Carrot or Stick?
The relatively new sphere of Climate-Related Disclosures and reporting is a space where effective and engaging reporting is particularly important.
The challenge is, when there’s so much to cover in your strategy and disclosure, how do you make this feel like authentic storytelling? That’s tricky if you’re a corporate executive trying to do the right thing.
In a world where there is a general acceptance of the overwhelming evidence that we are facing a global climate crisis, and a commitment by business and government to do something about it, it is important that we tell an engaging climate story building on the idea of “climate resilience” or “climate mitigation” rather than compliance. This would better highlight the opportunities, winning hearts and minds, and dangling the ‘carrot’.
Hands across the Tasman
The regime of mandatory climate disclosures is only in its opening chapter. New Zealand has blazed a trail in this space but has only cast the net relatively thin with around 200 businesses currently falling under the disclosure mandate released by the New Zealand External Reporting Board (XRB) a little over 18 months ago. Of course, many more kiwi businesses are seeing the need to build climate resilient businesses and are undertaking disclosures voluntarily.
In Australia, this reporting imperative is fast approaching, and the net is far wider. From 2025, the first tranche of Australian listed and private businesses will be required to undertake the climate reporting process and future expansion pathway which has been set by government, with estimates showing more than 6,000 Australian businesses will be required to undertake mandatory climate related disclosures by 2029.
For Australian businesses, there is a great opportunity to tell an engaging and authentic story about building climate resilience and avoid the trap of a box ticking disclosure.
Tadpole, through our own knowledge, experience, and practical approach, together with a broad array of clients across Australia and New Zealand, are focused on helping business leaders to navigate the Climate-Related Disclosures and tell engaging stories.
Tadpole has learnt how to successfully work through this process achieving a thorough but pragmatic balance that has been valued by the clients we have worked with on disclosures over the past 18 months. We help businesses to see this as the opportunity that it is – to unleash talent and realise potential opportunities within businesses that come from focusing on climate related risks and opportunities.
If you are looking for practical experts with disclosure experience, who speak plain English and are prepared to get their hands dirty, then reach out to Tadpole on info@tadpole.co.nz.